Volume 67, Issue 3

MOVIE REVIEW

Love, War, and Feathers

by Gabriel Ferstendig

Finding a new film of high caliber at this time of year is no mean feat.  After all, immediately after the summer movie season has come to a close, the studios release all the cinematic rubbish they deemed unfit for a coveted summer release.  That’s why the arrival of “The Four Feathers,” based on the A.E.W. Mason novel of 1902, comes as such a pleasant surprise.

This latest adaptation of the novel, set in the late nineteenth century, begins with Harry Faversham (Heath Ledger) resigning his post just one night before his regiment is scheduled to set out to fight in the Sudan against Muslim fanatics.  In response, three of his fellow soldiers along with Ethne Eustace (Kate Hudson), his fiancée, send him four white feathers to symbolize his act of cowardice.  Even Harry’s own father, a revered military general, virtually disowns him.  The only one who stands by Harry is his best friend, Lt. Jack Durrance (Wes Bentley). 

In order to prove to everyone as well as himself that he isn’t a coward, Harry follows the British army on a dangerous trek across the desert and lives among the Arabs.  He learns of an enemy plot to massacre the British forces and sends his new friend and guide, Abou Fatma (Djimon Hounsou), to warn his former comrades.  But the army captains don’t believe his warning and dismiss his message as an enemy subterfuge.  On top of all this, while Harry is away fighting, Jack becomes infatuated with Harry’s fiancée.

The movie’s leads are terrific in their portrayals of late nineteenth century Brits, especially considering that none of them are actually English. Ledger, who seems to have spent his entire career acting in period pieces, has an understated but fine performance as our hero, Harry Faversham, seamlessly portraying both an Englishman and an undercover Arab.  Hudson, as Harry’s young fiancée, delivers a first-rate performance that’s good enough to allow us to overlook her blatantly feigned British accent.

But the best performances of the movie come from supporting players Bentley and Hounsou.  Bentley, an actor terribly underused in Hollywood hadn’t made a big film since his breakout performance as a troubled teen in “American Beauty.” Here he displays his inimitable ability to change the tone of a scene solely through his body language, an ability unhampered by the fact that his character loses his eyesight in an accident during battle.  With his commanding presence, Bentley practically steals every scene in which he appears. Hounsou, whom you may remember from his portrayal of a slave in “Amistad” that garnered him an Academy Award nomination, delivers his usual unpretentious yet dazzling performance as an African spiritual guide.

Yet, despite such superb acting, the strongest part of “The Four Feathers” may be the cinematography.  The movie was filmed on location in Morocco, and the desert sand looks so perfect that it seems as though no one has stepped on it in decades.  The battle scenes are shown from all angles, including from above, portraying the soldiers fighting in the square formation that was customary during those times.  Expect an Oscar nomination to come cinematographer Robert Richardson’s way.

Despite these considerable assets, “The Four Feathers” remains far from perfect.  It tries to be a romance, a drama, a war movie, and a love story all rolled into one, but is simply unable to balance all its competing subplots.  In addition, its ending surrenders to typical Hollywood feel-good mush without even attempting to be realistic or compelling. Still, all things considered, “The Four Feathers” is a great movie, perhaps the only film currently in theaters that’s worth the price of a ticket.

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